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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22978834">All the Times Jonghyun Missed Minhyun’s Flirting Attemps and the One He Caught Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/beginsalie/pseuds/beginsalie'>beginsalie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NU'EST</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Best Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Hwang Minhyun Is Whipped, Language Nerd Hwang Minhyun, M/M, Oblivious Kim Jonghyun | JR</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:21:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22978834</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/beginsalie/pseuds/beginsalie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All the times Jonghyun missed Minhyun’s poor flirting attempts and the one time he caught up. </p><p> </p><p>or Minhyun starts to learn new languages and he flirts with Jonghyun without this one knowing about it… until he does. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Choi Minki | Ren/Kang Dongho | Baekho (mentioned), Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>86</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Spring Blessings (Nu'est 8th Anniversary Fic Fest)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All the Times Jonghyun Missed Minhyun’s Flirting Attemps and the One He Caught Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! I wrote this fic for the Spring Blessing project (in which I was very excited to participate) based on this prompt I chose: "minhyun is learning many languages at once and deliberately calls his best friend jonghyun all sorts of endearing pet names but in different languages. jonghyun thinks minhyun is making fun of him when in fact minhyun is trying to be blunt but also secretive. that passive aggressive bitch". I hope whoever wrote the prompt enjoys this very much and I didn't disappoint them at all. I was also asked to write fluff, so I hope this is a good definition of it. I loved to write this dynamic, so I hope you can all enjoy my vision of this prompt.<br/>Every translation of another language that's not English and may appear is at the ending notes.<br/>You can find me on my <a href="https://twitter.com/beginsalie">writing twitter</a>;<br/>on my <a href="https://twitter.com/bychaeng">main twitter</a> (where I scream a lot about NU'EST);<br/>and on <a href="https://curiouscat.me/beginsalie">curiouscat</a> if you have any question ♡</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When you asked anyone about Hwang Minhyun, you could get many answers.</p><p>People from the neighborhood, from college and even close friends would actually agree and you would get similar answers from them. "Minhyun is a good friend." "Isn't he the boy who aced every high school's subject and then college's?" "Hwang is an all-killer. He is good at everything. He likes maths, drawing, sports, drama, singing, sciences, playing piano, dancing… I heard he's into languages now." "He always helps everyone." "Hwang Minhyun? Isn't he the one that's always with Kim's son?" "He's the perfect guy." </p><p>His mom would say he was a sweet, caring boy that had never broken a plate. She had never felt the need to scold him because ever since he was a child he had understood what he could and what he couldn't do. He was a cute little kid who had grown up well and had never caused trouble. </p><p>If you asked Kwak Aaron, he would tell you that Minhyun is your boy for anything you need to do. "Need to hide a body? Call Minhyun." Minhyun would say that's why they never ask Aaron anything. </p><p>Kang Dongho, smiling fondly, would undoubtedly go on a soft rant about his friend. When asked about Minhyun's endless teasing, he would dismiss it and say he allows it because he is Minhyun. </p><p>And yeah, you better not choose to ask Choi Minki, because his first reaction would be to laugh at you. Then, he would surely tell you about Minhyun's clumsiness and his bad jokes. He would brag about being his best friend and threaten you if you remotely disagreed because "Jonghyun is not Minhyun's best friend. If you knew them, you would actually know this.". Right after that, if you still wanted to stay to hear more, he would love to tell you about Jonghyun and Minhyun's antics. </p><p>Kim Jonghyun, though, would call Minhyun a big head. Then, he would immediately apologize for being rude and explain that he wasn't trying to hurt Minhyun's feelings and that he knows that, that it's a joke between them. That Minhyun is <em> his </em> big head. He would laugh at it and say he knows him better than anyone. But even so, he would tell you that Minhyun is a very secretive person and that sometimes not even his best friend —him, of course— could understand him. That passive aggressive bitch. It was something quite frustrating for Jonghyun, if we considered that he had been in love with his best friend since the very first moment they met. Not that he was going to admit it out loud, of course, but he was pretty aware of his feelings, as much as he was about the fact that Minhyun didn't like him back. </p><p>It wasn't like Jonghyun had always understood how Hwang Minhyun's brain worked and this had suddenly changed. His best friend had always been quite mysterious and reserved, maybe needed some more time and space to be himself. But Minhyun had never —ever— refused to tell Jonghyun something. Yes, sometimes when things were harder he could ask for his friend to be more patient and he needed time to collect himself and be able to explain what was wrong with him, but he always came back to Jonghyun. Their relationship was built in trust and they were used to fix everything that way. Jonghyun was kind, nice and empathetic. Minhyun was calm, smart and brave. They were the perfect duo. </p><p>And that's why Jonghyun despised finishing college. Once they graduated, Minhyun decided to spend a few years learning some languages because he considered it was important to know how to communicate with people around the world. He already knew English, so he started learning American Sign Language (he knew the Korean one since he was a child), continued perfecting his Japanese and started learning Spanish, Chinese and Dutch. With all the new words Minhyun had in his vocabulary, he often spoke in different languages to his friends, sometimes without even realizing it. At first, Jonghyun thought it was cute. Minhyun's voice sounded really good pronouncing words Jonghyun didn't even know what they meant and his shocked expressions after realizing he wasn't speaking Korean again were amusing and adorable. But Jonghyun didn't fail to notice something: everytime Minhyun started speaking any other language and he apologized, he immediately translated what he was saying right after for his friends. But never for him. </p><p>It was really weird. It was, somehow, almost as if Minhyun did it on purpose. As if he wasn't making a mistake in those moments. As if he was speaking in other languages to him because he wanted to. And when Jonghyun asked for the translation, his best friend just shrugged it off or someone else laughed about it in a very "I'm trying to be confidential but I'm not making it" way that made Jonghyun feel worse. </p><p>Because, honestly? He didn't understand anything. Minhyun had always told him everything, but not anymore. It felt like his best friend was hiding something from him, even when they were alone. Once, Minhyun was studying Spanish at Jonghyun's place and he was frustrated because he didn't remember how to say "pig" and he was studying all the animals. Jonghyun wanted to cheer his best friend up so he tried to joke around.</p><p>"How do you say ‘turtle’ in Spanish?"</p><p>Minhyun smiled, knowing he was asking because all his friends called him a turtle.</p><p>"Tortuga*," he answered.</p><p>"Ohhhh. It's cute. How do you say ‘fox’, then?"</p><p>"Zorro*."</p><p>"So I'm tortuga and you're zorro," Jonghyun concluded.</p><p>Minhyun snorted. "No, tú eres precioso*."</p><p>Jonghyun stared at him confused. "What does that mean?"</p><p>"Nothing. I remembered that ‘pig’ is ‘cerdo’," Minhyun informed.</p><p>"That's not what you said!," his best friend protested.</p><p>"I don't know what you are talking about."</p><p>So Jonghyun started to ask himself if Minhyun was actually trying to mess with him. If he had done something wrong and Minhyun was commenting on it behind his back or something like that. Could it be? Jonghyun trusted Minhyun with his life but everything started to be suspicious, and even Minki was acting weird. Maybe he knew something and was trying to protect him. Jonghyun knew Minki had always been really protective of him, and he had always been grateful for it. </p><p>Like that time Minhyun and Minki were hanging out at their favorite coffee shop and Minhyun was showing the younger one some ASL signs. Then, Jonghyun sat with them at their table and greeted them enthusiastically, to which Minki responded almost yelling —and caused the owner of the place to scold him and Minki to blow him a kiss— and Minhyun smiled at him and, closing his hand, showed him his raised thumb, index and pinky*. Jonghyun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.</p><p>"Has Minki been trying to teach you that TWICE choreography?," he asked.</p><p>Minki facepalmed himself so hard the whole place turned around to look at him and he earned another murderous look from the owner. He didn't mind him and pointed at Minhyun and then at Jonghyun while staring at them deeply. </p><p>"You… Get your shit together. I can't do this anymore," he said before getting up and leaving the two friends alone. </p><p>And different scenarios very similar to these ones were continuely happening. So, to say that Jonghyun was being sulky was an understatement. He didn't understand what the hell was going on with his best friend and yes, let's admit it, that put him in a very dangerous situation. Because he hated not understanding things. And he didn't want to snap at Minhyun, so the only way to go through it was getting all moppy. Which wasn't good at all, because absolutely no one wanted to see a moppy Jonghyun around. </p><p> </p><p>@onibugikim: :(</p><p>2 Replies. </p><p> </p><p>@optimushwang: @onibugikim what's wrong, mein liebling*?</p><p>3 Likes.</p><p> </p><p>@glorypath: @onibugikim i'd ask who do i have to kill but i already know and he'd actually catch me at the front door</p><p>9 Likes.</p><p> </p><p>@donghohoho: @glorypath @onibugikim haha sounds like you're talking about minhyun</p><p> </p><p>@glorypath: does dongho ever shut up</p><p> </p><p>Jonghyun should have known better. He shouldn't have posted a sad face. Not that it wasn't good to express his feelings or anything like that, but his friends can't shut up, he knew that, and even though he appreciated how they cared about him, he sometimes wanted to kill them. But, surprisingly, he wasn't thinking about if Minhyun was going to be smart enough to sort out that he was sad because of him. He was too busy staring at something on his laptop screen. </p><p> </p><p>@optimushwang: @onibugikim what's wrong, mein liebling*?</p><p>Translate Tweet</p><p>10:12pm • 28/2/20 • Twitter for iPhone</p><p> </p><p>Translate Tweet. <em> Translate Tweet</em>. Not that Jonghyun had never thought about it, don't underestimate him. It was just that Minhyun had never used Twitter —nor any social media so Jonghyun could copy-paste and use Google Translate—  to speak to him in any other language. Eyes shining, Jonghyun clicked on the left button and the tweet was quickly translated. "<em>What’s wrong, my dear? </em>" Jonghyun’s heart skipped a beat, but he frowned. Why would Minhyun need to use another language to tell him a pet name? </p><p>Jonghyun had known his friends for ten years already. At first, it was really weird when Minki and Aaron started complimenting each other in a totally platonic way that didn't seem platonic at all. They were bold, flirty and completely unnecessary. So when they not only continued doing so but started to do the same with the rest of their friends, Jonghyun absolutely hated it. It made him blush and feel vulnerable… Until it didn't. One day, it stopped bothering him and it started making him feel good and confident. So he complimented Minki back. And when that happened, it surprised Dongho so much that he tried it too —and that might be why Minki and Dongho started dating, but that was absolutely not the point of all of that—. The point was: why was Minhyun in need of another language to tell him any beautiful thing if they already did that all the time in Korean? It didn't make sense.</p><p>On the other hand, Minhyun had maybe realized what he had done. He wasn't thinking that far to get to the conclusion that Twitter had already translated his tweet, but he had realized he had written it and Jonghyun could use Google Translate if he wanted to. The absolute panic could be read on his face and he quickly pressed the "Delete Tweet" option, hoping it wasn't too late. </p><p> </p><p>10:22</p><p>Tortuga ♡: hey</p><p>Tortuga ♡: mein lie lin</p><p>Tortuga ♡: or however you spell it</p><p> </p><p>It was too late. </p><p> </p><p>10:28</p><p>El Zorro: Hey</p><p>El Zorro: It's mein liebling**</p><p> </p><p>10:29</p><p>Tortuga ♡: i could finally translate something! </p><p> </p><p>10:29</p><p>El Zorro: I can see that</p><p> </p><p>10:29</p><p>Tortuga ♡: Minhyun</p><p>Tortuga ♡: why do you never tell me what everything you tell me means</p><p>Tortuga ♡: are you embarrassed or something?? it literally makes no sense… we say things like this to each other all the time… </p><p> </p><p>Minhyun slammed his head against his desk. This was his fault. But he couldn't just tell his best friend that he was so vulnerable and so in love with him that he needed to <em>express</em> <em>it</em> somehow. And it didn't matter how many times Minki had told him to actually confess, he still thought it was stupid and a lost cause. </p><p> </p><p>10:45</p><p>Tortuga ♡: Minhyunnnnn</p><p>Tortuga ♡: stop ignoring me</p><p>Tortuga ♡: well, stop thinking so hard about what excuse are you going to give me and just tell me the truth</p><p> </p><p>Minhyun snorted and could feel a tear falling at the same time. There wasn't any other person that knew him the way Jonghyun did. Would it really hurt telling him? </p><p> </p><p>10:47:</p><p>El Zorro: Everything I was saying</p><p>El Zorro: (To you, I mean)</p><p>El Zorro: … I was flirting with you</p><p>El Zorro: Or trying to</p><p>El Zorro: But not really</p><p> </p><p>10:50</p><p>Tortuga ♡: we do that all the time!!</p><p> </p><p>Minhyun sighed. No, they didn't. Not like that. </p><p> </p><p>10:50</p><p>El Zorro: No</p><p>El Zorro: What I mean is…</p><p>El Zorro: I was flirting with you and I didn't want you to know</p><p>El Zorro: Because what I was doing was letting out my feelings for you</p><p>El Zorro: Since I couldn't tell you that I…</p><p>El Zorro: That I like you</p><p>El Zorro: So that was my way of relieving myself. I guess</p><p> </p><p>It was like getting something really heavy off his chest. Minhyun felt lighter and he would even say less worried… If Jonghyun would have answered faster. </p><p> </p><p>10:55</p><p>El Zorro: Jonghyun?</p><p> </p><p>11:02</p><p>El Zorro: Did I scare you off?</p><p> </p><p>11:14</p><p>El Zorro: I'm sorry… </p><p> </p><p>But Jonghyun was not sorry at all. He was too busy to be sorry. </p><p> </p><p>10:51</p><p>onibugi ♡~: CHOI MINKI</p><p> </p><p>10:51</p><p>annoying bunny: JESUS CHRIST WHAT NOW</p><p> </p><p>10:51</p><p>onibugi ♡~: DOES HWANG MINHYUN LIKE ME?</p><p> </p><p>10:51</p><p>annoying bunny: fucking finally. are you two going to get your shit together???????</p><p> </p><p>10:54</p><p>annoying bunny: jonghyun??????</p><p> </p><p>10:58</p><p>annoying bunny: HELLO???????</p><p> </p><p>11:06</p><p>Do Not Answer: MINHYUNNNNNN HELLO!!!</p><p> </p><p>11:07</p><p>Pessimus Hwang: Not now, Minki</p><p> </p><p>11:07</p><p>Do Not Answer: unbelievable</p><p> </p><p>Minhyun couldn't believe his luck. Honestly, why him? It wasn't like he was expecting his friend to return his feelings, because it was definitely not the case. But he opened his heart to Jonghyun, his best friend, the one who always replied —unless you were a very annoying Aaron asking for free food that no one was willing to give him because well, he's the oldest so he should buy it for everyone else—. What was going on? His world was falling apart. The ring belled. And he had no time nor strength to deal with whoever was calling at 11pm.</p><p>Unless, of course, that someone was the one and only Kim Jonghyun. Minhyun opened his mouth in surprise but made no sound, then closed it and opened it again. Jonghyun used his index finger to carefully close Minhyun's mouth, laughing sweetly at him and leaving his finger on Minhyun's jaw for a few seconds before letting his hand go, locking stares with his best friend. Minhyun leaded him to the living room, even if Jonghyun knew perfectly where it was, and they sat down. Minhyun tried to keep his distance, worried about Jonghyun feeling uncomfortable around him, but this one closed the distance around them and sat next to him. </p><p>"So…," Jonghyun murmured.</p><p>"So…?"</p><p>"I drove all the way here," Jonghyun smiled, very proudly.</p><p>Minhyun laughed and nodded. "I see. Why did you do that?"</p><p>Jonghyun's facial expression dropped a little bit. "Well, you see… A certain someone decided to tell me he likes me… And he kind of dropped the bomb on me by text? So, as it's very well known that I would never do that, I drove all the way to his place to tell him that I've been in love with him since the year we met. Nothing too serious, right?," he smiled again after getting thoughtful.</p><p>Minhyun was staring at him and, without noticing, his jaw was dropping again. He was too surprised to say anything and he was looking too funny for Jonghyun not to laugh. </p><p>"What? You have been in what with me? You are lying!"</p><p>An amusing offended expression appeared on Jonghyun's face. "How dare you call me a liar? I have never lied to you! You, on the contrary…"</p><p>"Me? I have never lied to you either!," Minhyun attacked back.</p><p>"You told me you knew nothing about what I was talking about when I asked about your stupid flirting in other languages!," Jonghyun snapped.</p><p>"Okay, fine, you have a point…," Minhyun shrugged. "But I couldn't tell you! And you're avoiding my question! Also, do you really think it's stupid?," his eyes turned into puppy eyes.</p><p>Jonghyun sighed. "No. Now that I know about it, it's adorable, but it was also really frustrating, Hwang! I didn't understand you and I <b>always </b>understand you! I even thought you were saying stuff behind my back…"</p><p>"I mean, I can't blame you... To be fair, I was… But it was only pretty stuff. Minki was growing tired of me," confessed Minhyun. "And stop avoiding my question!"</p><p>Jonghyun snorted. "I can imagine! Poor Minki… He must be blowing up my phone right now… And what do you want me to say? I'm not lying, Minhyun… Yes, I've been in love with you since we met."</p><p>Jonghyun didn't think Minhyun could be surprised again, but he definitely could. As Minhyun's jaw dropped for the fiftieth time, Jonghyun got closer to Minhyun's face, got comfortable and raised his finger again. He closed his mouth with his hand and spoke again. "Close your mouth, Hwang. Bugs will come in. And stop being so surprised about me loving you."</p><p>Minhyun whined. He had Jonghyun staring at him with his hand on his mouth and he knew it was about time. </p><p>"Jonghyun. I love you too. I just didn't want to say it by text."</p><p>Jonghyun looked at Minhyun and the surprised one at that moment was him. You could notice in his eyes. </p><p>"I came to my best friend's place to tell him that I love him and he told me he loves me back? In what kind of rom-com movie am I living?" said Jonghyun out loud.</p><p>"Hey! I confessed first, you dumbass!," Minhyun answered, smiling, still with Jonghyun's hand on his mouth. </p><p>And then he leaned in, Jonghyun removing his hand to give him better access and their lips met.</p><p>"Seinaru tawagoto!*," Minhyun concluded when they finished kissing. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tortuga: turtle.<br/>Zorro: fox.<br/>No, tú eres precioso: No, you're beautiful.<br/>"closing his hand, showed him his raised thumb, index and pinky", like in TWICE's FANCY: ILY, I love you.<br/>Mein liebling: my dear.<br/>Seinaru tawagoto!: Holy shit!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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